Your Core Passions

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A battle to fight.

An adventure to live.

A beauty to rescue.

These are the core desires panting deep in the heart of every man. From the Amazon to Parliament, from the academy to the factory, these desires are universal, true for every man. And they are essential in order to live life as a man; they provide the power for his life. Misplaced, forgotten, or misdirected, they do not go away; they go underground and surface later in anger, addiction, compulsion. You pay a high price when you neglect these desires.

A Battle to Fight

Every boy knows he is made for battle, and he longs to be the mighty hero. Give him a cape, a sword, a light saber and he comes alive in a world of Jedi knights, superheroes, snowball fights, and “what can we blow up next?” But of course—man is made in the image of a Warrior God: “The Lord is a warrior, the Lord is his name” (Exodus 15:3). God himself is a warrior. And we are made to be like him. Thus every man needs a battle to fight. But in order to fight for his life, his marriage, his children, his dreams, his integrity, a man must first get his heart back as a warrior.

An Adventure to Live

Ask men about the greatest moments in their lives—moments they felt truly alive. They will always tell stories of adventure. That motorcycle trip to Burma, rafting the Colorado, a night on the open sea. That’s why the heart of a man slowly dies when chained to a desk, an assembly line, or a cell phone. And that’s also why every time God gets hold of a man in the biblical record, he takes him into high stakes adventure. Abraham, Moses, David; Peter, Matthew, Paul—all swept up into great adventures by the wild design of God. Christianity is not an invitation to be a really nice guy; it is an invitation into a Larger Story in which you play a decisive role.

A Beauty to Rescue

It’s hard to think of a classic men’s movie that doesn’t have a “rescue the beauty” scene—and the romantic “thank you” that follows! Nothing can get our attention like a beautiful woman. Again, God made us this way. Back in the beginning of our story, Eve was created from Adam’s side—and none of us have recovered from the surgery. Men are haunted by the Beauty. Where the confusion begins is when we turn to the woman not to offer our strength, but rather looking to her for our validation. Certain disaster follows. Learning to fight for the Beauty is not only one of man’s core passions, it is one of life’s greatest joys.